The best way to educate the public and recruit new members is gathering signatures on the Move To Amend petition. Community festivals, political rallies, farmers' markets, grocery stores, film screenings, picnics of local organizations, and other local events provide good opportunities for outreach.
Follow these easy steps to sign people on to the Move to Amend petition!
NOTE: In the age of COVID, you can still collect petitions! Just wear a mask and talk to people from a safe social distance, and let them know they can sign the petition by texting SIGN to 707-656-4019. Look for ‘COVID TIPS’ appearing in boxes below for more ideas on collecting petitions during the pandemic.
1) Click here to sign the petition or text SIGN to 1-707-656-4019
Make sure you have signed the petition yourself!
2) Click here to share the petition online.
Share the petition with your contacts by email or through social media. Get rewards for recruiting your friends!
3) Click here for a PDF of our petition to print & collect signatures in your community.
COVID TIPS: |
Print a large version of the petition language that people can read from a distance. Encourage people to sign up while they are standing with you rather than later as the odds of them actually doing it later are low. |
Getting Ready to Petition
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Put on your MoveToAmend shirt and grab some blank petition pages, a clipboard, pens, and your Move to Amend button and you are ready to go! If you’d like to get more elaborate, you can order materials for your tabling and petitioning outreach here.
COVID TIPS:
- Bring your mask.
- Bring hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes.
- Bring extra pens
- Print a large text version of petition language that people can easily read from a distance
- Identify events in your community for good outreach: Community festivals, political rallies, farmers' markets, grocery stores, film screenings, picnics of local organizations, etc. Local online and print periodicals such as neighborhood newsletters and Facebook Event Calendar pages are good resources for learning about events in your area.
- Bring company! Consider coordinating with other MTA members to go petitioning together. This can make your time more fun as well as provide a sense of support and safety.
- As you petition, please make sure all sign ups include a ZIP CODE because it is required for us to report to state and federal legislators how many of their constituents have signed the petition
- Remember that people do not need to be a resident of your community, a U.S. citizen, or even registered to vote in order to sign the petition. Anyone who supports the cause can sign!
What to Say
Numerous polls show that 80% of Americans support our goals, so don't get too worried about how to ask for support - chances are that folks are on your side! But if you want something to start with, this is what we've found works well:
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Start with a brief “hook” phrase such as:
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“Are you concerned about corporate influence in our democracy?”
- “Do you think corporations have too much power in our country?”
- “Are you concerned about Citizen’s United?”
- “Would you like to do something about Citizen’s United and corporate influence in our democracy”
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“Are you concerned about corporate influence in our democracy?”
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Hand them the petition! If they pause, express interest, or exclaim “Yes!”, you can introduce yourself and extend your arm to offer them the clipboard and pen at this point - they're more likely to sign if they take the petition from you.
Your introduction can be something like:
"Hi my name is _____. I'm a volunteer collecting signatures in support of Move to Amend, the national campaign to amend the US Constitution to say that a corporation is not a person and get money out of politics. This is our organizing petition. We already have over 400,000 signatures and our goal is to collect 500,000 before the end of the year. Will you sign?"
If they need a little more information it can help to add:
"We use this petition to let your state and federal legislators know how many people support our goal to amend the Constitution to end corporate personhood and get big money out of politics and to grow our movement. Will you sign to show your support?"
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Give them options! There are three ways they can sign the petition:
a) Sign the paper petition, OR
b) Text the word SIGN to 1-707-656-4019, OR
c) Sign the online petition at www.movetoamend.org/motion!
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Key points to convey:
- We NEVER share their information!
- PLEASE PRINT LEGIBLY.
- All sign ups must have a ZIP CODE at minimum. When we meet with state and federal legislators, this allows us to show how many of their constituents have signed the petition.
- Strongly encourage folks to include their email address so we can keep them informed -- they can always opt out of email communication at any time.
- They don't need to be a resident of your community, or a U.S. citizen, or registered to vote. If they support our cause, they can sign up!
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If they ask a question that you don't know the answer to, encourage them to visit us at www.movetoamend.org for more information or to submit their question directly to us at www.movetoamend.org/contact
- Double check! Take 5 seconds to double check for their zip code and contact information before you take the clipboard back.
Here are some more talking points, but really, don't overthink it -- most people will be eager to sign!
If anyone asks a question you don't know the answer to, don't be afraid to say "I don't know" -- encourage them to come to this website for more information or to submit their question directly to us.
Tabling
Tabling is a fun and easy way to reach out to your community and talk with people about this issue. All you need is a table, some materials and a place to set up. Local events like farmers markets and festivals often have space allocated for tabling, so check and see what events are coming up in your area. Colleges, universities or your local grocery store are also great places to table. Of course be sure to check with the business owners and university administrators before you proceed.
Once you have a place to set up, arm yourself with petitions, brochures, bookmarks, posters and anything else you think would be good to have on your table. Most importantly, don’t forget your smile. Tabling is easy, but it is also an art form that improves with practice. Draw people in with an enticing display and a friendly question like, “Did you know that corporations have more rights than you or me?” Make sure to get contact information when they sign the petition so you can develop a list of allies. Tabling is also a great way to inform people about other events you might have coming up, such as a movie screening or study group.
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To find out whether you may table at an event, reach out to the organizers. Often a fee will be charged to reserve a space, and you may be required to provide your own table and chairs. Set up large, clearly worded signs at your table. Bring copies of the Move to Amend petition for people to sign, as well as flyers about your local organization that people can take with them. You can also distribute Move to Amend brochures and other materials.
You can order materials for your tabling and petitioning outreach here.
Tabling Resources
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Printable Handouts:
- We The People Brochures
- Bookmarks
- Large text petition language for safe socially distant petition collection
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Public Education Kit - check here for additional educational talking points & handouts to add to your table!
- Corporate Constitutional Rights:
- Labor:
- Interfaith:
- Environmental Justice:
- Corporate Constitutional Rights:
What to Do With Completed Petitions
First of all, thanks so much for your support and help spreading the word!
We have a volunteer who help us to enter in paper petitions, but they often have a big back-log of signatures so we ask folks to enter the names in a spreadsheet and email it to us to ensure that folks will be added quickly.
Please submit petitions to us online using the web form and spreadsheet template here: http://movetoamend.org/submit-petitions.
If this isn't something you can do, please mail them to:
Move to Amend
P.O. Box 188617
Sacramento CA 95818
We really appreciate it when folks can help us out by doing the data entry on the petitions!!
If you are an approved Affiliate, use the spreadsheet template above and then upload your spreadsheet directly into the Move to Amend database via your account. Contact your Affiliate Coordinator if you are unclear on how to do this.
